BHS to welcome 9th graders with new Freshman Academy

In just the first semester of the 2024-25 school year, there were 239 occurences of ninth graders being disciplined at Belleville High School. There were 419 in ninth grade.
“They gave us a run for our money,” BHS principal Nicole Crockett told the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education at its regular meeting May 27.
It is always difficult for the students to adjust to high school after coming from the middle school, but last year 16% had failure in math, 15% failure in English, 17% failure in social studies, and 5.5% failure in science.
She said Phase I of a Freshman Academy is being set up to concentrate on helping the new high school students. They will be located on one of the second floor wings, although they will be taking classes with other grades.
She said the Freshman Academy idea started in Monroe and has shown great results. Principal Crockett said they went over to see the program in Monroe and were impressed.
She said every student, whether having troubles or not, will be regularly counseled individually.
She said the academy will need a ninth-grade administrator, dean, counselors, CORE teachers, specialty teachers, and assigned support staff.
School Supt. Pete Kudlak said these new staff members will be in the next school year’s budget, which is being prepared. He said Phase II will be next year.
In other business at the two-hour-35-minute meeting, the board:
• Approved the new K-5 ELA Wonders Curriculum, which was discussed at length at the last board meeting, at a cost of $438,901 over five years;
• Heard a presentation on the $130,400 contract for the proposed new band bleachers to be paid from the 2019 Bond Program. The contract with Southern Bleacher Company, Inc. will be voted on at the next board meeting. The new bleachers will seat 410 people. They are seeking to relocate the current band bleachers at the stadium or to McBride;
• Approved heating and cooling replacement at Rawsonville Elementary School, as discussed in detail at the last board meeting;
• Heard building presentations from Tyler and Rawsonville elementary schools and BHS;
• Approved BHS camera upgrades and replacements, as discussed at a previous meeting at a cost of $64,667.28 with Security 101;
• Approved the annual Wayne Westland Cooperative Agreement. Van Buren Public Schools pays Wayne Westland 50% of a student’s state allocation for vocational education because each student participant spends half a day there;
• Approved having board secretary Darlene Loyer Gerick as the official representative to vote in the June 2 Biennial RESA board election and trustee Cal Hawkins as backup. They were directed to vote for the two incumbents running unopposed in the district’s area;
• Approved the Wayne RESA proposed budget of $900 million for the 2025-26 school year, with information given in a recent meeting;
• Approved the Livonia Transition Agreement for three special needs students between the ages of 18 and 26 at a cost of $8,000 each. This continued education is required by law;
• Approved an agreement with Stepping Stones for special education services during the 2025-26 school year as needed in the future with costs from $79.50/hr. to $95/hr. The department is fully staffed now and this is in case help is needed later in the year;
• Reviewed non-affiliated salary information for administrators which takes effect July 1. The board will vote on the list at the next meeting. The district reviews like salaries in other districts and adjust VBPS salaries to stay in line and competitive. The custodial supervisor pay for Bette LaDouceur went to $72,000 and payroll specialist pay for Trena Plovie went to $70,000, because they were out of line. All the directors also were out of line, and Julien Frazier and Priya Nayak got raises to $140,000 and John Leroy, Jeff Moore, and James Williams got raises to $134,000. Everyone else on the list got a raise of $1,750 except for the hourly workers;
• Approved the resignations of the following Owen Intermediate School teachers: Margaret Jones, after seven years of service; Anitress Gray, after four years; and David Jablinsky after two years, all as of June 13;
• Approved the resignation of Jason Strzalkowski of BHS after 21 years of service as of July 31, to take a position as a elementary principal in a neighboring district;
• Approved the retirement of Norman Lampinen of Buildings and Grounds after 42 years of service as of June 27; the resignation of Kyle Mattausch of Buildings and Grounds, after less than a year of service as of March 6; and the resignation of Kelsie McLaughlin from the Transportation Department after two years of service as of May 13;
• Heard parent Angela Mears ask the board to provide the number of classes board members took during their recent state conference at Mackinac Island. She said an unsigned letter in a recent Independent irritated her because it said the money used to send the whole board to Mackinac Island could have been better used for counselors and tutors to help the students. She will write a letter of rebuttal, she said;
• Heard Supt. Kudlak say he and Julien Frazier went to breakfast with Pastor Billy Hailes of Messiah Lutheran Church and four other pastors to discuss the needs of students. Pastor Hailes was present to tell of a student he met who was hungry and ate both halves of a Pop Tart the pastor happened to have at hand. Pastor Hailes said that the boy was hungry moved him; and
• Heard graduating senior Ivana Goff tell of the events of the last few weeks of the senior year. There was a senior breakfast before the senior walk and a senior party on May 23 at BHS that had “so much food, candy. It was a blast.” She said after the seniors created the number 25 on the athletic field for pictures, the Early Childhood Center graduates came on the field and seniors gave them little diplomas because they were graduating into elementary school.